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Supply of water and
moisture, water care

A side from light and heat, the drinking water supply, relative humidity and the right moisture of the substrate are very important
for the animals’ well-being.

This is because reptiles and, to a greater
degree, thin-skinned amphibians are constantly losing water as a result of respiration, particularly through the skin. This is especially true
with amphibians, which almost exclusively take water up through the
skin and barely drink at all, in contrast with other terrarium animals.
Therefore, in addition to cleaning and refilling the water dish, daily
care should also include misting (spraying) the inside of the terrarium
with water regularly at least once in the morning. This also applies
to desert terrariums. This is because there is often fog or dew in the
morning hours in regions with high daytime temperatures and significant decreases at night. Many animals are used to meeting their
moisture needs through the water condensing on their body or other
objects in their environment.

Some species of animals e.g. chame-
leons prefer moving water. Young animals don’t need more than the
water drops that collect on leaves or objects after misting, whereas
adult animals often require more. In this case, it is recommended to
add a dripping system that supplies water over an extended period of
time. This way, the animals can take up as much water as they need.
The dripping water can be supplemented by occasionally adding vitamins (JBL TerraVit fluid ). Your pets can be offered moving water by
putting in a waterfall, e.g. a ready-made model or room fountain, operated by JBL ProFlow tBombasor by setting up a larger-sized
waterfall operated by JBL ProFlow u-Bombascomplete with a
water reservoir on the rear wall. In this case, though, it is important
to assure consistent good quality of water. Besides this, the substrate
of aqua terrariums must be cleaned regularly with a gravel cleaner
such as theJBL AquaEX Kit 20-45and the aquarium panes must be cleaned
with glass cleaners such as theJBL Blanki Kit. A weekly partial water
change of around a third of the water volume should be done, similar to an aquarium. Without regular cleaning, a slew of bacteria, very
detrimental to the animals’ health forms very quickly in the reservoir
of the room fountain or waterfall. These often contain just a few litres
of water.

The water supplied in a terrarium requires certain measures of care
in order to prevent a murky brew laden with bacteria from forming.
This can endanger the animals’ health. Care is relatively simple with
drinking vessels: They should be cleaned and refilled with fresh water
daily. When it comes to larger bodies of water in a terrarium, e.g. in
combination with a waterfall, the care required is comparable to that
of an aquarium.

Briefly: After the water section has been filled with mains water, a
water conditioner (JBL Biotopol T - Renders any chlorine harmless and
absorb harmful substances such as heavy metals) should be added.
Internal and external filters from the JBL CristalProfi range can be
used to filter the water. Internal filters such asJBL CristalProfi i100 greenline are suited for small water vessels of up to 100 litres. External filters
from the JBL CristalProfi e range which are also designed to save
energy are recommended for larger volumes of water.

It is imperative
to do a regular water change of approx. 30 % every 2 weeks. The
water replaced should then always be conditioned to meet the animals.

If you are keeping turtles, it is urgently recommended to use a very
powerful external filter (JBL CristalProfi e) due to the animals’ enormous metabolism. In this case, a model one size bigger than that
recommended for the corresponding water volume should always be
selected. With itsJBL EasyTurtle , JBL offers a product that effectively
accelerates the degradation of the large amount of waste produced
by turtles, thereby preventing unpleasant odours. It contains specially
bred cleansing bacteria which are bound to a mineral granule. These
granules are simply sprinkled onto the bottom of the water section or
integrated into the substrate.